


The Girl Behind The Lense

by Sugartush



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Adventure Family, Blindness, Cassie's eyesight is as shit as her father's, Domestic, F/M, Family, Glasses, Post-Game(s), parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-03
Updated: 2017-02-03
Packaged: 2018-09-21 18:38:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9561725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sugartush/pseuds/Sugartush
Summary: Elena picks up on Cassie's struggle to see. However, the opinions of the men in her life always come before an optometrist.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'm doing more of these! Next one is in the works and should be up in the next few days. I've just been flat out exhausted since starting my final year of highschool two weeks ago and am struggling finding time to recouperate. Comments are greatly appreciated :)

The first instance it appeared to Nate and Elena that their daughter hadn't been blessed with all of the five senses, they were in the crowded waiting lounge in the Singapore airport. Sully and Elena sat on two chairs, watching quietly as Nate and Sam sat on the floor to entertain Cassie. They couldn't blame her for being bored; she was four and a half and their flight back to the states had been delayed another two hours.   
"Hey Cass," Sam poked her tummy gently.   
"That's me. Cassie with a C." She giggled from her father's lap, hands shot high in the air in exclamation, as if to further prove her point. Almost jabbing his eyes out, Nate laughed and pushed them back down with his own.   
Sam smirked. "Okay Cookie Monster, lemme ask you a question."  
"What is it Uncle Sam?"   
"If you had a most favourite candy, what would it be?"   
Cassie squinted her eyes and looked to her mother, who was madly typing away at an article on her laptop. "Mommy?"  
She glanced over her screen and smiled. "What's up, baby girl?"   
"What's my favourite candy?"  
"If I recall, you went nuts over those sherbets we bought you in London."  
"Oh yeah! The spaceships!" She turned back to her uncle and exclaimed again, as if he hadn't already heard her, "Uncle Sam, Uncle Sam! I like the spaceships!"   
"Woah, well you're in luck kiddo. Look what I scored at duty free!" He reached into his duffel bag and fished out a clear plastic bag of the multicoloured confectionary.   
As he handed it to his niece, Nate squeezed her leg. "What do we say, Cass?"   
"Thank you, Uncle Sam." She said sweetly and got up to go hug him and plant a kiss on his bristly cheek.   
"Anytime, kiddo."  
"Cassie, c'mere," Elena said as she slipped her laptop back in its case. "I need to brush your hair."  
"But mommy," the little girl whined tiredly, but still went to sit down between Elena's legs on the floor. "You brushed my hair this morning."  
"I know baby, but you're hair's messier than Vicky's dinner bowl. I'll be gentle, I promise."   
She quickly went to work, undoing the lopsided and frazzled blonde high ponytail. When she attempted to first run the brush through however, Cassie held her hands up to stop her. "You're pulling too hard!" She whimpered.   
"I'm sorry, honey. Why don't you distract yourself and read daddy what's on that candy bag?"   
Cassie let out an exasperated, "hmph", but did so whilst her mother gather her hair into two pearly pigtails high up off of her neck.   
She stumbled through the first line of text on the white label, before Nate grabbed her hand, noticing her strained expression squinting down at the bag. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you ok?" He murmured.   
"I can't read it."   
"The label? Here, I'll help you-"  
"No- it hurts my eyes."   
Nate furrowed his brow and looked up at Elena. She shrugged.   
Sully looked over his newspaper and reached to ruffle Cassie's pigtails. "I think someone might just be tired. Nothing to worry about." 

After a long plane ride home, wedged between both her parents and sleeping on their laps the majority of the time, Cassie was excited to be back. Sure, she loved seeing the world, but she equally loved New Orleans and spending time at home with her dog.   
"Vicky!" She cried as they opened the front door. She dropped her little suitcase, and bounded for the Labrador retriever. Vicky was equally as excited to see her best friend, licking fervently all over her freckled cheeks when Cassie went in to hug her. "I missed you so much!" She giggled.   
From behind her parents, Sully laughed. "Told you the little thing was fine." He and Sam were to stay with Elena and Nate a few nights or so before they moved on to their next project. In the taxi home, Sully had already shot gunned the spare bedroom, leaving a grumbling Sam to prepare himself for the couch.   
"I guess you were right." Elena smiled and placed an hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure you know where your room is?"  
"Course I do, sweetheart-"  
"No, I'm taking you to your room, Sully!" Cassie cried, whipping her head from Vicky's furry neck.   
Sully chuckled and hoisted his bag on his shoulder. "Sure thing, darling."  
Nate rolled his eyes. "She's in the bossy phase."   
"Everyone loves a girl who's assertive, Nate."   
Sam snorted and dumped his own belongings on the Drake's large beige couch. "Oh they're real charmers. Reminds me back to that girl I dated. Crystal-"   
"Sam." Elena stopped him, arms folded and unimpressed at his timing for such a story.   
Sam shrugged to himself and lay down, turning his head to his niece. "Yo Cass."  
"I'm busy, Uncle Sam!" She replied matter of factly. "Someone's gotta be a hostess around here."   
"And you're doing an excellent job, sister. Now come and give me a kiss good night." She gave in and launched herself onto his chest, beaming and pigtails bouncing. He let out an exaggerated, "oof!" To which she kissed his cheek, whispering, "good night, Uncle Sam."   
Sam kissed her cheek back, muttering, "night monkey." Before Nate came and hoisted her in his arms. "Come on, Cassie. Gramps isn't getting any younger."   
"What did I say about calling me gramps?" Sully exclaimed.   
Nate put his daughter on the ground, to which she patted her leg for Vicky to follow her. "C'mon, Vicky! We gotta go and show Sully to his room."   
It wasn't even a quick pace that she proceeded to walk towards the stairs in, but somehow she managed to create a resounding "thud" between her forehead and the wooden bannister.   
"Ow..." she whimpered quietly. Elena and Nate were quick on the scene, whilst Sam jolted up and Sully hovered to help. They knew how she tolerated pain.   
"Hey," Nate cooed as he hoisted her onto his hip. "Careful, honey." Cassie buried her head into his shoulder and hid her pink cheeks and hot tears. He pressed his lips to her blonde crown, gently rocking her to settle her down.   
When she raised her head, Elena wiped some of the tears away and noticed the bloody gash, glinting scarlet under the hanging lamp. "Ah, shit." She whispered. "Baby, does it hurt a lot?"   
Cassie nodded miserably with a little pout. She pressed her hands to rub her tired eyes before sobbing again. Elena felt her and everyone else in the room's heart shatter. She rubbed the nape of Nate's neck and exhaled. "Hon, can you bring her to the couch?"   
"Sure." He heaved her upwards and followed Elena's lead back to the living room. They sat next to each other after Sam moved to the end and rubbed warmth into her toes.   
"First aid kit?" Sully asked. Elena nodded. He returned after rifling through their medicine cabinet with the red plastic box, which he set down on the table.   
"Cassie, baby, do you feel sick at all? Are you seeing any spots?" Elena asked softly. Cassie shook her head and hugged Nate tighter. Nate squeezed her gently on the thigh. "Hey, can you be a brave girl for daddy? We need to see if you're ok, Cass."   
"That's too much rethponsability." She lisped into his shirt, now wet with her tears. Nate laughed pitifully and cautiously turned her around. He held her tight around the middle and kissed her head again. "I promise you that Sully will be an excellent doctor. He's patched me and Uncle Sam up more times than I can count."   
"Did you run into stairs too, daddy?" She mumbled.   
"Something like that." Sully responded with a laugh. "Alright, now give me a smile, princess. We're gonna make it all better, okay?"   
She didn't raise a smile, but only kept her full lipped pout and stared back at him. He raised his hands in defence. "Whatever, I tried. Elena, can you pass me the rubbing alcohol and some cotton balls?"   
She nodded and quickly soaked a couple for him, which he brought to the wound before biting his lip and pausing. "Cassie?"  
"Yeah?" She managed shakily.   
"This might sting a little, but it's so you don't get an infection."   
"Can I hold mommy's hand?"  
He grinned. "Of course you can. Okay, on the count of three." Cassie gripped her mother's hand with strength Elena didn't even know she had. Now she had a vague idea of how Nate must of felt during Cassie's birth. Ouch, she thought. "One...two...three!"   
Cassie hissed with pain and tears threatened to spill again. "Ow, ow, ow, ow!"   
"Hey, it's all over! Worst part is done." Sam reassured her with a smile and a pinch of her pinkie toes.   
"Now, I don't think there's any sign of concussion," Sully noted, looking into her big brown eyes "it's not too deep either. I think we can just patch her up and let her be on her merry way." 

After she was plastered with enough bandaids for a small village and wrapped in a mummy's length of muslin, Elena had carried Cassie to bed. She descended later to find the other three still on the couch, tucked into three beers and a round of poker.   
"I feel like the worst mother in the world." She stated painfully as she accepted a swig of Nate's beer and sat with her legs over his thighs, lying down on the empty space of the couch.   
"Nah, don't beat yourself up about it, sister." Sam reassured her. He slapped Nathan's shoulder. "Do you know how many stitches this kid got before he even turned six?"   
"I don't even want to know, Sam-"  
"Nineteen. All on seperate occasions. What can I say, kids are kids. They have accidents sometimes. You can't just keep them bubble wrapped till they're eighteen."  
She frowned and stared at the light fixture on the ceiling. "No, it wasn't."  
Nate raised a brow. "Wasn't what?"  
"An accident." She took a short breath. "Nate, I think we should take her to see an optometrist."   
"An optometrist?"  
Sully knitted his brow. "You're taking this too hard on yourself, sweetheart. It's a coincidence that she ran into the stairs and couldn't read a candy bag. She's four for crissake! She shouldn't even be reading!"   
Elena shook her head. "No. She's reading stuff two years above her age group and that staircase is as clear as day. I'm going to try and take her tomorrow afternoon. Nate, you coming?"  
Nate smiled. "Love to."   
"Nate? You too? The kid's not blind!"   
"Sully, my daughter might have a vision impairment. Shouldn't I take every precaution in case it could be a whole lot more serious?"   
Sully opened his mouth to reply, but came up with nothing. He looked at Sam, who was wrapped in the throw blanket and pondering over his next move. "I don't suppose you have anything to say, Samantha?" He grumbled.   
Sam looked down at the blanket and shrugged. "It's cold out this time of year."   
Sully rolled his eyes and folded his arms. "Well good luck training goddamn Vicky to be a guide dog." It didn't take long before three throw pillows were being thrown at him from all directions. 

"Sully, Sully!" Cassie hurdled towards him the next afternoon. He put down the plans he was working on for their next project, and lifted her into the air and onto his lap. "What's shakin' bacon?"   
"Daddy's driving me and mommy and Uncle Sam to the opto-opt..."  
"Optometrist?"  
"Yeah, that one! And then Uncle Sam is taking me out for ice cream. What's your favourite flavour?"  
"Hm..." he tapped his chin for effect. "I love a good scoop of rum and raisin."   
"Ew." She grimaced but shrugged her shoulders anyway. "I'll ask daddy if we can bring you back some."   
"I don't know if he deserves any rum and raisin." Nate joked as he strode into the room, keys in hand and Elena linked with arm. She smiled at Sully. "You wanna get yours eyes tested too?"   
Sully raised a brow. "Watch it sweets."   
She chuckled and tossed her head to the left, signalling for their daughter to come over. "Cassie, come on. You ready to go?"   
"Yes, mommy." She gave Sully a quick peck on the cheek and jumped onto the ground, straight into Elena's legs. "Bye, Sully!"   
"Behave for your folks, kiddo."   
"You got it dude."   
Nate scrunched his features and turned to Elena, confused as to where their four year old had picked that up from. They shut the door on the way out, leaving Sully alone with his work again. 

It was late when they returned home, bearing ice cream and awaited news. Cassie was licking an strawberry sundae from Nate's shoulders, with Sam and Elena trailing behind, as they entered the living room.   
"Hey, that's my beer." Nate whined, noticing a Sam Adams resting against his leg. A football game was on their tv and he had his feet resting on the coffee table.   
"Don't forget who raised your ass, kid." He said not taking his eyes off the screen.   
"That doesn't give you the right to take my beer! Elena and Sam already do that enough."  
"I do not." Sam retorted. He grabbed Elena's shoulders. "It's all this cheap hoe's-" he realised Cassie was hanging onto every word of his, so he stopped himself, but not before Nate and Sully both spun slowly to frown.   
Elena laughed, murmuring, "this cheap hoe is going to go give somebody a bath." She reached up for Cassie, to which Nate brought down to place on his wife's hip. She kissed her sticky cheek and ascended the stairs to the bathroom.   
"So what's the diagnosis?" Sully asked as Sam and Nate grabbed their own beers and joined him on the couch.   
Nate scratched his head. "She's got astigmatism. Her corneas are irregular shaped."  
Sully laughed. "I wonder whom she got that from."   
"It went away!" Nate defended himself.   
"Sure it did." He chuckled low in his throat, taking a swig of his beer. "Maybe your shitty eye sight is why we seem to step into so many traps. If Cassie pursues the same career, tell her to invest in a pair of contacts."


End file.
